BENGALURU: Aiming to boost its revenue ahead of the budget, the state government is all set to introduce a One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme for quarry owners, who have not paid royalty for nearly two decades.
The government expects around Rs 4,000 crore from this scheme and is framing rules to implement it. In 2024, the state cabinet increased the royalty to Rs 80 per tonne from Rs 70. However, the government now wants to implement the scheme with Rs 70 per tonne as royalty. Many quarry owners have not paid royalty since 2005 and with Rs 70 per tonne, the government aims to generate Rs 4,000 crore.
Defaulters will have to pay royalty from 2005 to 2023.
Sources in the Department of Mines and Geology said there was no mechanism earlier to monitor the quantity of minerals extracted by quarry owners. They have extracted more than what was permitted.
Director of the department Rangappa S said the quantity of minerals extracted will be calculated using satellite images from 2005 onwards. The images will give the exact width and depth of the quarries where minerals have been extracted, he added.
“A cabinet sub-committee will frame rules pertaining to the scheme. Since it is a legacy payment, it will define the number of days, either one-time payment or partial payment,’’ he elaborated.
According to a survey, there are over 2,400 defaulters. They not only extracted minerals in excess from the land leased to them, but also from the land allegedly encroached by them.
In 2024, a cabinet sub-committee under Mines and Geology Minister SS Mallikarjun fixed Rs 60 as royalty per tonne and recommended five times the amount from defaulters. But the cabinet proposed Rs 80 per tonne. Now, the government wants to collect only Rs 70 per tonne without any penalty, which according to officials, will help defaulters clear their dues.